FAQs

Protrainer 5: Planning Feature - using training phases

One of the most useful yet under used features in the Polar Protrainer 5 software is the planning feature. The Protrainer 5 software gives you the ability to plan and create entire exercise programs and bank individual exercises for future use. You can also sync’ these programs with compatible Polar HRM’s and even share them with other Polar users. This is also a great tool for a coach.
To show you how the planning feature works in the Polar Protrainer 5 I’m going to be using a Polar RS800cx. As an example – I’m going to use a Run/Walk Interval that is common for beginner runners.
The workout I want to follow for the first phase of my training will consist of

I want to repeat this 5 times for a 40 minute workout that I will use 4 times a week for my first week of training.
So with the RS800cx in hand and the PT5 software open, click on Tools > Training Plan
On the right hand side of the box under “Plan an Exercise” click on New:

Start by Entering a Name of the exercise, I’m going to name it Run/Walk Week 1. I’m going to set the sport to “Running” to make sure the preset sport zones are used. If you want to add any notes to the bottom you can now.
What you want to do now is double click on the Phase Box and here is where we can start the phase setting.

Now should have your “phase box” open which will look like this:

Warm Up
I want to do a 10 minute warm up. So I’m going to double click on the phase box, set a warm up to 10 minutes. I also want the zone to be a light zone that is defined by my Polar Sport Zones.

Jog
Now for the one minute jog, so I’m going to double click right after the warm up phase, enter the name as “Jog” and set the duration to be 1 minute. Using the preset Sport Zones, and I want to do my one minute run at Sport Zone 3, which is moderate. For now you can leave the repeat off. Click OK to save it.

Walk
Following the Jog, I want to walk for 4 minutes to recover. So I’m going to double click again after the previous phase. And name the phase WALK. Lets change the time to 4 minutes and set the intensity level at a Sport Zone 2, which is light intensity.

Now what I’m going to do is set the repeat to Repeat PHASES. Select Which PHASE I want to repeat and the amount I want it to repeat, in this case I want to do 5 of them.Cool down
Now following the exercise I want to cool down for 5 minutes. Lets double click again after the last phase, and select COOL DOWN as the name, give it a 5 minute duration and use a very light sport zone.
Now we can see how the workout will look.

Now that you have the workout structured, you can click on OK.
Now in in your “Training Diary” page click “Save AS” to bank the file for future use.
Now I told you earlier I wanted to do this work out 4 times this week. To preset the week, what you’re going to do is double click on the day you want to schedule it, Click on Plan an exercise, click on Search.
Locate the exercise you want to add. And click OPEN/OK. Do this for every day you intend on completing the exercise.

Now that you have the week outlined, Sync up your RS800cx.
Be sure to have “Update training program in Polar product” box checked.
Now – to start your workout on the watch, select “Today” in the menu to queue up the planned Walk/Run interval.
Now the watch will guide you through the planned exercise with zone alarms and audible alerts. If you are outside the HR intensity zone the watch will beep repeatedly until you are back in that zone. And when it is time to recover or change phases, the watch will give you a nice loud beep to let you know.